Mikita Brottman is one of the most interesting people in town. The MICA professor has written numerous books, including "Thirteen Girls," about the impact of murder, and most recently "The Great Grisby," which details not only her love for her dog but also the love that historical philosophers have had for their own dogs, including curmudgeonly idealist Arthur Schopenhauer, who had a series of dogs named Atman (the Sanscrit word for universal soul). We recently spent some time with her in the maximum-security prison down in Jessup where she was teaching "Macbeth," "Heart of Darkness," and other dark works of literature to prisoners. This weekend she appeared in the New York Times' Modern Love feature reflecting on the nature of love and names, and especially on the three Daves that have, at least partially, defined her romantic life. (Baynard Woods)
So maybe you think the New York Times Styles section is the scourge of fashion, a slow, ponderous, myopic trend-watcher as apt to make up bogus trends as it is to get duped by pranksters. Or maybe you think it's gay culture's most underrated news outlet, the past two decades' secret mainstreamer. Or maybe you think it's just an endless paean to consumerism, suffused and steeped in the same mild evil that coats every glossy page ever printed. If any of these are you, maybe you'd be wrong. And maybe you care enough about the New York Times Styles section, and the history of the "Women's Pages," and trend journalism and its critics, and culture generally, to go ahead and plow through this epic exposition by The Awl's Jacqui Shine. Did you know that the first "Gonzo" journalists were women? (Edward Ericson Jr.)
For those interested in the hacktivist collective Anonymous, now that they're at war with the Ku Klux Klan over the hate group's threats of violence against people protesting the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, check out Chris Landers' April 2008 City Paper article that really explained the idea's origins. Speaking of hackers, the New York Times piece about Guccifer, the Romanian convicted for cracking into famous Americans' emails, reveals how easy it can be. Now in jail, the man, whose real name is Marcel-Lehel Lazar, an out-of-work former cab driver, explained that he simply made educated guesses about passwords until he hit the right ones. Maybe this Anonymous business isn't as mysteriously complicated as it sometimes seems. (Van Smith)
